Nevermore/Enygma Files

December 2094

Lizbeth was reclining on the bed, the faint glow of the holo television lighting up her face as her eyes never left the screen.

There was something about the damn broadcast that kept her tense, as if a growing anxiety was overtaking her being. Even so, she tried to remain calm because she was not alone.

Beside her two small children, a boy of about five and a girl of about four, were curled up on the blankets, watching with the same uneasy expressions, searching for answers in the rapidly changing news on the screen.

It was the same on all channels.

Lizbeth changed the channel with the control and pursed her lips.

[ ...although the largest anomaly appeared in Siberia, smaller mysterious portals continue to be reported around the world, meaning that the threat has spread across the globe. Although these portals usually collapse and close on their own within hours or minutes, this gives these creatures enough time to reach our world and spread. It is recommended to notify the authorities immediately if one of these anomalies is sighted and to flee the area as quickly as possible. The same is recommended in the event of finding fallen satellites in isolated areas that are not in the hands of the authorities...]

She changed the channel again.

"What's happening, Mrs. Lizbeth?" the boy asked in spanish with an anxious voice. "More satellites falling?"

It was clear they didn't understand the magnitude of what was happening, but their fear was palpable. The girl, even smaller, clutched her stuffed doll tightly, her wide eyes waiting for some reassuring word from Lizbeth. She stroked her head and kissed her forehead, trying to calm her down.

On the screen, a Chilean reporter continued his report, his face visibly worried as images of devastated cities and strange creatures flashed in the background. [The invasion didn't come from outer space, as we all thought in the beginning. It's come from a different dimension, a space next to ours, but invisible,] the man said, despite the seemingly neutral tone he wanted to maintain, Lizbeth could hear a hint of fear in his words. [The fractus, as world governments have named them, are creatures from a dimension alien to ours. And they have arrived to stay. The Siberian front is advancing slowly, while other smaller anomalies continue to appear. What was feared as an isolated invasion from another world... has turned out to be a distortion of our very reality especilists says. We warn the viewers, the images you will see next depict a terrifying situation. Viewer discretion is advised—]

"Nope," Lizbeth said, changing the channel. She had been looking for cartoons, but all the damn channels were talking about the new war, and nothing else.

Lizbeth felt a dark shadow fall over her heart when she heard that word: fractus. She knew enough what it implied, what those creatures represented.

They weren't invaders from space, nor external forces threatening humanity. They were something stranger. They were the living proof that reality itself could unravel. The fractus were not only beings from another dimension, but they also brought with them forces that could alter the very nature of the world. Earthquakes, tidal waves, tsunamis...

All caused by the appearance of a massive piece of land floating between Earth and the Moon. That object, which the scientist called a "dimensional fragment," had disrupted the laws of gravity, triggering phenomena that could not be fully explained yet.

Most of the communication satellites had fallen when a wave of debris from that dimensional fragment entered the atmosphere, and the monitoring systems around the world had nearly ceased to function, plunging the world into chaos. Social networks and media were filled with speculation, but no one seemed to have clear answers.

And, of course, there was the matter of Siberia. The main breach that had appeared out of nowhere and through which the fractus were entering the world.

The fractus came in various forms: some trying to imitate Earth life, others monstrous, and some completely incomprehensible. There was no way of knowing where they would come from or why they were here, but one thing was certain: the world would never be the same. Privacy meant nothing for something that could move through a fourth spatial dimension. An attack could happen anywhere.

Finally, a channel showing cartoons. Lizbeth smiled faintly and patted the heads of the two children.

"This is better."

"But I wanted to see what was happening on the Russian front," the boy said.

"Then your mother will get mad because you'll have nightmares."

At that moment, the bedroom door opened softly. A young woman entered, with her hair braided in uneven strands and dressed in simple but high-resistance clothing. Lizbeth recognized the concerned look in the woman's eyes. Upon seeing the children huddled on the bed, the woman approached and gently stroked their heads.

"So here you are," the woman said in a soft but firm tone. Her voice didn't hide the exhaustion. "Hi Liz. Thanks for bringing them."

"No problem. How was your day?"

"Uh..." she shrugged and cracked her neck. "Tiring as always."

Lizbeth did not blame her. After all, she was a heavy machinery operator at the hydroelectric plant up the mountain.

In her case Lizbeth had arrived at the town there a few weeks ago. It was a small but self-sufficient village lost in the mountains. On her trip through Chile, she had been contacted by a friend prior to the disaster and had decided to stay with her for a while. Her friend was a fairy who ran a daycare center and had been helping out in the same place for years, but she had been more focused on taking care of the little ones while their parents worked in the last time. Lizbeth had decided to help her out a little. It could be said that her ability with her voice calmed the children.

"Lizzy... you have visitors... outside in the Central Park," she whispered just loud enough for Lizbeth to hear.

"What?"

"Yes, they came into town a few minutes ago and were asking about you. I think they went to the daycare center too. But they are in the Park now."

Lizbeth opened her mouth, but didn't say anything.

"They don't seem to be looking for trouble, they're feys. One of them is blond and has long hair like yours, the other two are girls, one small and one with short hair.

Lizbeth nodded slowly. At a moment like this, anything could happen. "Alright," Lizbeth replied. "I will go then."

"Let us know if you need help. Just give us a sign."

"I don't think that will be necessary," she smiled.

The woman nodded in silence and left the room with the children, leaving Lizbeth alone with her thoughts one moment. She knew that the current situation was beyond any control. She had already heard rumors that feys with abilities were being sought all over the world, and old acquaintances had even called her about the same situation.

Lizbeth stepped outside and found herself in a small clearing surrounded by simple houses, most of them built with local materials from a recycled housing materials factory. The houses built with plastic blocks were quite colorful, and seen from a distance, they almost looked like toy houses built with Lego blocks. The small town she was in was a haven for both feys and humans, one of the few areas where both groups had lived in relative peace for almost twenty years. The air was fresh, and the sky turned red with dusk as the long shadows stretched across the nearby Andes mountains.

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She walked about a hundred meters before entering the central park area, which already had its lights on at that hour.

Immediately, she saw the three of them waiting near the center of the park.

Noki, standing with her arms crossed, was the first to notice Lizbeth's presence and ran toward her. Lizbeth sighed. She should have known. She had spoken to her recently because she was worried when it all started. Beside her, Leon casually leaned against a lamppost, his serious gaze softened by the usual smirk that always accompanied him. And with them, Mimi—her expression one that Lizbeth couldn't read immediately. Despite the distance, Lizbeth could sense that the tension between them wasn't just related to the bad news they were bringing.

Lizbeth took Noki in her arms. "What happened?"

The question seemed a bit silly given the state of the world, but Lizbeth couldn't know exactly what had brought them, though she suspected. The three had been part of the Nevermore Initiative for years.

She walked toward them with firm steps, but her eyes reflected a hint of surprise upon seeing them.

It had been years since they had gathered like this.

"Well, who would have thought I'd see your faces here. Aren't you all busy?" Lizbeth smiled and greeted them, but her voice sounded somewhat empty, as though what should have been joy at another time couldn't hide the gravity of the moment.

Mimi was the first to speak after a kiss that felt a little cold. Her voice was deeper, but more serene than Lizbeth remembered. "We knew we'd find you here. Though..." she paused, her eyes drifting to Noki and Leon.

Noki looked at Lizbeth with a mix of unease and regret. "You know, right? We didn't just come to say hi. Things have changed too quickly."

Lizbeth crossed her arms, though something in her posture betrayed that she had already guessed what was coming. Her gaze lowered, and she kicked a small stone.

Leon stepped forward. "It can't be hidden anymore. We know you've been living this way for a while, helping those you can, but that's no longer enough. What's coming... is something too huge." He looked at the other two. "We're forming a coalition, sis. Feys, humans, and... aeons."

"The Tripartite Treaty was for this after all," Mimi said.

Lizbeth raised an eyebrow, intrigued, though her expression remained marked by concern. "Aeons too? So, the AIs have finally joined the Initiative's cause?"

"Yeah," Mimi said in a calm voice, though it carried an intensity that was hard to ignore. "It's no longer a matter of hiding the existence of the feys. Espers have already come to light. It's just us and the mages now. The whole fucking world is heading toward a critical point. And if we don't step forward, if we don't show ourselves to help with what's coming, we'll be swept away along with everyone else."

Lizbeth let out a sigh, lowering her head for a moment before looking at them again. "So, now that everything is upside down, is this the opportunity?"

Noki nodded. "Yes. It's been a long time coming. Gehirn was clear in this. We should not remain hidden much longer. The time of the lone wolves is over, mom. The time to do everything on our own... is over."

Lizbeth couldn't help but let out a brief, bitter snort. "I've always been good at surviving, sweety. But... do you really think all this will change anything? That revealing our existence will make a difference when the world is going to shit on its own and all that?"

"Yeah," Leon said. "If there's one thing all this has taught us, it's that we can't stay isolated in this situation. Not you, nor any of us. The battle won't be just against the fractus or the dark events. It's against something much bigger. And now we have the chance to step into the light. There's a common threat that can unite us all. We have to fight."

Lizbeth looked at him for a long moment. The fight was no longer just about resistance, about running away. It was about facing the world as it was, without masks or secrets. She had long rejected Gehirn's offer, but now, with so many decades passed, she could understand that it was a golden opportunity.

The Initiative had done a great job worldwide presenting itself as an organization initially interested in the paranormal, only later studying the Dark Events. But behind that there was much more than that, that was only the visible side. The battles, the feys, and everything else had remained secret, but it was true that the organization had also worked gradually to help society accept that the world was much broader than they had ever thought.

"What do you want me to do?" Lizbeth finally asked, looking at them all. "Fight against those things?"

"We will all fight. But there's a chance your ability could help a lot," Leon said.

"How? I'm a siren. Would you like me to sing them a lullaby?"

"Well, it's just a theory, but we'd have to test it."

"You kidding, right?"

Mimi looked at her with a faint smile, though with an overwhelming seriousness. "It's not just about not staying behind, Liz. What we're proposing is a change, something that will require everything from us. It's not just joining a cause, it's being the face of everything that's coming. Are you ready for that?"

Lizbeth stayed silent, reflecting for a moment. Then she looked at Mimi, Noki, and Leon. "Have there already been talks?"

"Yes. The UN. And there's already a council of humans, feys, and aeons there as well. Though it hasn't been made public yet."

"I'd heard something in certain places," Lizbeth breathed deeply, crossing her arms as she watched her friends. The sound of children playing in the background, running around the feys as if they didn't understand the gravity of what was happening, became a distant echo in her mind. The tension in her shoulders was palpable, but it wasn't from tiredness, it was frustration, pure and simple.

"You know," Lizbeth said, her voice carrying a tone of sadness, "I've been helping these people. I've been here for them, giving them a piece of peace, or at least trying to. Now you're asking me to leave just like that. And I'm sure out there others are asking us to fight against those things too, right?"

Mimi was the first to answer, approaching Lizbeth with a calmness only she knew how to maintain. "It's not that, Liz. What we're saying is you don't have to do it alone. All these years you've been fighting alone, even though you try to stay out of it, and you know what war means. We know you don't want to get involved in a war, but with what's coming, there's no choice. We can't hide anymore, and we can't sit on the sidelines of something this big."

Lizbeth turned her gaze to the children, who kept playing away, unaware of the conversation. The last sun rays bathed the the peaks of distant mountains, the golden light slipping through the cliffs. It seemed so simple, so natural. But that dusk only reminded her of what was at stake in that moment.

"So, basically, we are going from the frying pan into the fire."

The three nodded. "We'll all be in the same boat. There are already plans for how the deployment should be. There are mixed test teams on the front lines. It's to experiment with how the battle might look."

Lizbeth couldn't help but remember her time in the Armitage Initiative. "Are we going to be on the front lines?"

"Depends. Most likely. The strongest might also act as a sort of propaganda."

Lizbeth clicked her tongue. "The world's falling apart, and now it's time to do propaganda?"

Noki took a step forward, her voice soft but determined. "Because you know we can't keep living in the shadows, mom. If we don't join, if we don't fight, maybe there's nothing left to protect. These fractus things aren't going to stop, and if those floating pieces of land fall up there, everyone here, everyone we care about, will disappear."

Lizbeth grimaced but embraced her with one arm and gently stroked her back.

Leon, with his years of experience, intervened in a firm tone. "Liz, you know it, you've always known it. No one is asking you to be something you're not. We just need you to use what you have, what you've always been. You're a survivor, not just because you've made it this far, but because you've known how to adapt, evolve. What's coming is not only a threat to humans and aeons, but also to the feys. It is not just about the occult world. And if we don't act now, there will be nothing to save."

Lizbeth couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh, shaking her head as her eyes once again settled on the children, still laughing and playing as if the world were a safe place.

Mimi stepped closer, gently taking her hands, as if it was the only thing she could do to approach her without pushing. "Liz, all of this is bigger than us, and you know it. But that doesn't mean you have to face it alone. We're in this together. And what you've done so far, with everything you've given, hasn't been in vain. You have more power than you think. We're not asking you to be a hero, just to help us survive."

Lizbeth fell silent, looking at Mimi for a long moment. Their eyes met, and in that instant, Lizbeth saw something in her. It wasn't just sadness or worry, but an acceptance of what was to come. Mimi had changed a lot over the years, she wasn't the same person anymore, but she still understood her like no one else. And that, in that moment, made her feel more vulnerable than ever.

Lizbeth sighed. "Alright. Let's do it. But if we're going to do it, we'll do it our way."

Mimi stepped closer and embraced her. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

"Bah. It's okay. It's not like I was going to stay still for long anyway. I just didn't want to accept it. What kind of mother stands idly by when her daughters are on the front lines? It's just that I don't like the idea of using this as an incentive to reveal it, it sounds too opportunistic."

"It's what we have..."

Mimi squeezed her a little, and Noki smiled. "I told you so," she said as she watched her two mothers hugging and kicking Leon playfully on the leg.

When they finally pulled apart, Lizbeth looked at Leon. "This looks like it's going to be a long one."

"I hope not. Those things are already causing enormous damage."

Lizbeth looked to the east. As the sun finished setting, a new glow began to appear on the opposite side. That huge piece of land from another dimension rose like a new satellite on the horizon.

The future, uncertain and terrifying, was now a battlefield where she would play a role alongside hundreds of thousands more. And whatever came, she would face it in the only way she knew how.

As a survivor.